Nagoya Journal of Medical Science

In an attempt to evaluate gas chromatography for quantitative use, relative peak area ratio (RPAR) was studied under various analytical conditions and several problems in the quantitative analysis were elucidated.
The loss was influenced by the sample size, structure of the steroid, retention time, operating temperature, loading effect and gas chromatographic appartaus. Problems relating to matters of instrumental design and column packing inclusive were of the most importance. In certain instances trimethylsilyl ethers were useful for avoiding these difficulties but these derivatives and even saturated hydrocarbons were not found to be recovered completely in gas chromatography. Of the various causes proposed for this phenomenon, adsorption appeared to be the most siginificant.
When precise estimation is required, it should not be extended beyond a certain limit even by employing suitable operating conditions. Relatively reliable procedures for careful control of routine estimation are outlined. As a matter of course, the necessity for proper instrumentation should also be emphasized and the properties of any given equipment, analytical conditions and the accuracy of the obtained data should be checked with the RPAR curve.

Many physiological functions were examined during 22 days of sojourn at high altitudes (4,200-7,000 m above sea level) on Mt. Aconcagua, Argentina. Parameters measured include heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, .cardiac output and stroke volume calculated by Balke's formula, urinary protein, glucose and pH, RBC and Hb of blood, and muscle strength measured by a hand clynamometer and a pinch-meter. Cardiovascular dynamics judged by those parameters was markedly changed during the first two weeks and tended to be normalized towards the end of the third week of sojourn. Diastolic blood pres- sure continued to increase until the end of·the second week. This increase of diastolic blood pressure may be caused by increased peripheral resistance due to increased blood viscosity, and may add extra work load on the subject's heart. Protein was excreted in urine when the cardiac work was lowered during this period. RBC and Hb did not increase until the third day. Subjective symptoms were also checked and analysed.

We made precise observations of the presence of symmertrical lesions especially in the mucous membrane of the oral cavity, based on the view that pseudoxanthoma elasticum is in general a systemic disease of elastic fibers and that similar lesions to those present in the skin are very likely to occur symmertrically in other regions. As a result, we found yellowish-white enanthemata of the same appearance at symmetrical sites of the hard palate in both of our latest 2 cases. The degeneration of elastic fibers, quite similar to the findings of the skin, revealed by histological observation of the lesions, together with remarkable calcification demonstrated by Rossa's stain, led to the conclusion that the enanthemata are those of pseudoxanthoma elasticum.
We report our findings here as we believed that the enanthemata which occurred in identical regions and with the same appearance and histological findings, even though in only 2 cases, might probably be due to pathological change in the mucous membrane of the oral cavity which is characteristic of this disease.